Crossing the Borders: New Methods and Techniques in the Study of Archaeological Materials from the Caribbean

76 / Hutcheson
McWeeney 1999). Due to the often crisp, clear nature of many of the impressions,
and the remarkable detail in the alginate molds, it is sometimes possible to make
direct observations of plant morphology. A collection of materials, both plant and
basketry, was amassed, with which to study these impressions. Some of the materials
have been woven into mats, while others have been left relatively unprocessed;
both are then impressed into clay after which molds are made. This aids in understanding
what plant attributes can be expressed in the sherds and ultimately the
molds.
Purposefulness vs. Production By- Product
Many of the basketry impressions are amazingly crisp, with the exception of very
used worn pottery and the presence of heavy soot and other debris coating the artifacts.
In many instances 5x magnification of the molds shows the vertical scraping
of the cut edges of the basket elements in the clay. This, in conjunction with
my experiments in pottery manufacture and impression (Berman and Hutcheson
1997), lends further support to my belief that these impressions are purposeful.
This is not to say that the pots could not have initially been made on “mats” as
Hoffman (1967, 1970) states, but rather that those imperfect markings were removed
and crisp ones added at a specific time in the production sequence. Sears
and Sullivan contend that the impressions are deliberate (1978:12–13). Modern support
for this concept comes from Yde, who asked a Wai Wai woman in 1967 to make
a clay cassava griddle. The clay was worked on a mat in the initial stages of the production
sequence, but those markings were removed during the finishing process
(Yde 1967:182). It is believed that the Lucayan potters used a similar production sequence.
Adovasio and associates (2001:65-67) discuss the fabric or basket impressions of
the St. Johns assemblage, Tick Island site, ca. 500 b.c. to a.d. 100. They state: “These
mats are doubtlessly the surfaces upon which the St. Johns vessels were placed in
the still wet state and with some downward force as the indentations in the impressions
are quite sharp” (Adovasio et al. 2001:67). While this statement does not indicate
a belief of purposefulness, it does imply that the impressions were made in
a single downward motion, as opposed to multiple multidirectional forces consistent
with hand- built pottery production. If the Lucayan impressions are indeed intentional,
then we must look for their cultural significance instead of continuing
to assume they have no meaning because they were created by someone slapping
some clay onto a piece of basketry (cf. Hoffman 1967, 1970).
Summary
The creation of dental alginate molds by the technique discussed here, while not
one- step, is not difficult and works well in the field lab. The vast array of data
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